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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24423397">Grief In Opposites</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewdarling/pseuds/thenewdarling'>thenewdarling</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:02:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>516</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24423397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewdarling/pseuds/thenewdarling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaiba and Yugi both suffered a tremendous loss, and reacted to it in opposite ways.</p>
<p>The final moments of The Dark Side of Dimensions, in tableau.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Atem/Mutou Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Grief In Opposites</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wanted to write something short and soft.</p>
<p>Likely will be read at Glasgow Fanfic Open Mic Night on the 16th June (@GlasgowFanfic on Twitter)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Seto Kaiba watched the moment of Yugi’s victory over the demon creature later, from the satellite footage. He’d been unconscious for that part.</p>
<p>There had been a moment, in his dying breath, as he’d handed over the Puzzle, when he almost believed Yugi. That the Pharaoh was gone. But he’d known better than even Yugi. Because the Pharaoh had always been Yugi's blind spot.</p>
<p>And because the Pharaoh had waited for Kaiba. </p>
<p>Trapped for thousands and thousands of years in golden amber, waiting to be put back together again. His puzzle. His memories. And to watch Atem and Yugi put each other back together the same way, stronger than each of them alone. Teaching themselves how to lean on one other.</p>
<p>It wasn’t fair. He couldn’t be that, he never could. He had been born with nothing, and he’d had no one to lean on. He’d had Mokuba to look after, a life to provide for them.</p>
<p>But even as Yugi lost faith, Kaiba always knew. </p>
<p>Because the connection between him and the Pharoah, while different, was no less strong. And he could see them both face on, while they had to settle for looking out of each others’ eyes.</p>
<p>He didn’t think Yugi had been lying to him - he just couldn’t see what Kaiba did.</p>
<p>The light of Palladium Oracle Mahad’s attack blinded the view screen, and the footage cut out for the final moments.</p>
<p>#</p>
<p>Yugi, and Atem. Alone. Mahad has granted them a moment.</p>
<p>No words. None were needed. Yugi smiled, tears building behind his eyes. </p>
<p>He didn’t know what this was - what had caused it. The last drop of magic left in the dormant puzzle, his wish beyond all hope to see his partner again, borrowing the memory from the afterlife?</p>
<p>But then - that had always been the power of the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi had wished on it for friends that would stand by him. And it was like he had told Joey - Atem was never truly gone, not while they remembered him.</p>
<p>He was glad, to see his partner one last time.</p>
<p>No words. No, not this time. Just memories, and a fleeting feeling of the closeness they’d treasured. </p>
<p>The light faded, and the world was thrown into relief.</p>
<p>He loved Atem, and now, he had to let him go.</p>
<p>#</p>
<p>Kaiba would bend heaven and earth to make this work. </p>
<p>And in a way he knew he was destined to do this - for five thousand years they’d chased each other across lifetimes. Pushed each other, broken each other’s limits.</p>
<p>This was just the latest in a long line of walls Atem would force Kaiba to shatter. He engaged his system, and the entire structure lit up with the light of a sun.</p>
<p>Kaiba would reach into the afterlife and bring the Pharaoh back, kicking and screaming if he had to.</p>
<p>The blinding light of the KaibaCorp satellite blurred and dissolved into the scorching rays of the Ancient Egyptian horizon. The smell of warm sand carried by the breeze on his skin.</p>
<p>He loved Atem, and wherever he went, Kaiba had to follow.</p>
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